Wellness programs have become fundamental features in the benefits plans of many major organizations, most notably Google, which offers employees on-site physicians and nurses, nutritious food options, nap pods and complementary fitness centers, among other perks. But these initiatives are not exclusive to the likes of Silicon Valley giants—more than two-thirds of U.S. employers offer them as part of their benefits packages, says a new report by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Google offers its employees one of the most comprehensive wellness programs, featuring unique benefits including massage chairs, climbing walls and bicycles to support campus-wide travel. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

What's fueling this growing popularity? Evren Esen, SHRM's director of survey programs, cites the Affordable Care Act as the primary driving force. As the cost of health care continues to rise, employers are turning to prevention to keep expenses low. “Organizations have been toying with wellness over the past five to seven years,” says Esen. “Time has passed, and research shows wellness programs really do make a difference in reducing overall health care costs.”

“The ROI depends on how deep an organization really wants to go down the wellness well,” says Esen. “Organizations need to look at their employee base and get a sense of what makes most sense. And they need to collaborate. It won’t help if they offer a program that’s not what employees want or need.”

Other preventive health and wellness benefits that saw increases over the five-year period include smoking cessation programs (44%, up from 36% in 2011), preventive programs targeting employees with chronic conditions (40%, up from 33% in 2011) and health care premium discounts for getting annual health risk assessments (25%, up from 14% in 2011). However, none of these experienced growth over the past year. On-site stress reduction programs (5%, down from 12% in 2011) and on-site nap rooms (2%, down from 6% in 2011) saw decreases.

What Esen finds most impressive, however, is the immediate success of two new preventive health and wellness benefits: company-provided fitness bands or activity trackers and company-organized fitness competitions and challenges, which have employer participation of 13% and 34%, respectively (Esen says participation is typically around 2% or 3% during the first year a benefit is offered). “It shows how organizations are investing in wellness,” says Esen. “Organizations are jumping on the wellness bandwagon, and it is here to stay.”

Esen projects that general wellness programs will grow again from 2015 to 2016, as well as in the long-term, based on the current pattern of growth, continued effects of the ACA and new expectations about benefits. Attracting and retaining top talent will require more than providing a solid base salary, she says. “Employers will realize that in order to be competitive, they will need to offer wellness programs. …I think we could get close to 100% of organizations having wellness programs.”

Other preventive health and wellness trends to look out for include more health care premium discounts rewarding healthy behaviors and the emergence of surcharges for unhealthy habits, which SHRM plans to ask employers about for the first time in 2016. “Even if companies don’t have the resources to offer really elaborate wellness programs, you’ll see them take measures like these to incorporate elements of wellness into their benefits,” Esen says.